Don’t rattle the SG can, it might erode the base
Outsider has been around long enough to reflect that when the superannuation guarantee was first established by the then Labor Treasurer, Paul Keating who envisaged it reaching healthy double-digits well inside a couple of decades.
Then, of course, the Liberal/National Party Coalition assumed the Treasury benches under Prime Minister, John Howard, and the SG remained pretty static only to resume a decidedly cautious upward momentum with the election the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd Labor Government which was hardly accelerated by the election of Tony Abbott in 2013.
As things currently stand, the SG is sitting at 9.5% and under the Abbott time-table will rise to 10% in 2021, 10.5% in 2022, 11% in 2023, 11.5% in 2024 and then, finally, 12% in 2025.
But Outsider heard quite some time ago that there are more than one or two Coalition back-benchers who would happily see the SG not rise at all, and the Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, Senator Jane Hume, has been quoted as suggesting 10% is a nice round number.
So, what is the Government’s agenda? Well Outsider notes that with former rugby player, Tony Abbott having kicked the SG can down the road in 2017, that can is about to pick up significant momentum from 2021 onwards and that acceleration appears to coincide with the election cycle.
If things had turned out differently on 18 May, 2019, none of this would be an issue for a Coalition Government but Outsider can well understand why no one wants to upset employer groups running into an election.
AUTHOR
The Outsider
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